1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of disk drives in computer systems, and more particularly to the incorporation of temperature sensors into disk drive chambers where disk drives are located to detect overheating of the drives.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer systems are becoming increasingly large and complex and hence require increasing amounts of data storage capability. Computer systems are also being called upon to perform increasingly difficult tasks which require large amounts of data storage to perform properly. This is particularly true of computer systems that serve as file servers in local area networks (LAN's). Additionally, computer systems are being called upon to perform critical tasks which require a high degree of data integrity and reliability. Therefore, a major area of research in the computer industry has been to provide larger and more reliable data storage capabilities for computer systems.
Computer systems that require large amounts of data storage may include several drive bays or drive chambers comprising a plurality of disk drives. A common problem that may occur among disk drives is overheating of the unit. To help alleviate this problem, certain prior systems have included a temperature sensor in the drive area. If the temperature exceeded a predetermined limit, the power supply of the computer was shut down. While this did protect the drive, it also resulted in an unwarned termination of operations, a problem in any system and a major problem on a LAN. Therefore, while the drives were potentially saved by the power shutdown, data in progress may have been lost and opened file problems potentially resulted. Therefore, it is desirable for an apparatus to be able to detect the overheating of a drive and provide a warning to the operating system or an operator prior to shutting down operations.